Laparoscopic adrenalectomy performed with the Endo GIA™ Stapler as an easy and safe approach.

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the application of the Endo GIA Stapler (Medtronic, Dublin, Ireland) could be helpful in the dissection of adrenal tumors in complicated cases.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy between 2012 and 2022 at the College of Medicine, Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea (Seoul, Republic of Korea). We adopted the Endo GIA Stapler (Medtronic) to seal vessels around adrenal gland and separate adrenal gland completely when it was difficult to perform meticulous dissection and isolation with laparoscopic instruments. Thirteen patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy with Endo GIA staplers were reviewed and compared with 45 other patients who underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy without Endo GIA staplers.

RESULTS

There were no statistical differences between the two groups in demographic, tumor-related, and diagnostic variables. Surgical outcomes such as margin involvement, bleeding, operation duration, rate of conversion to open surgery, blood transfusion, complications, and recurrence were not different between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In our experience, applying of the Endo GIA Stapler (Medtronic) in laparoscopic adrenalectomy is a feasible and acceptable approach.